Neighbors
by Ninja-on-the-run
Summary: Arthur Kirkland is living a satisfying life in the grand city of New York with his roommate, Francis Bonnefoy. He lives life in a daily routine, not minding one bit. But the routine he's followed for years is suddenly broken when a pair of twins move across the hall and change his world completely, unsure if in a good way or a very chaotic way. Possibly both. Friends AU, Human AU.


A/N: I saw the human AU episode. This had to be made. Pretty sure there's other fics like this, but I just wanted to contribute.

Loosely based off Friends. Using the human names, other countries will be introduced later on.

So far: Francis and Arthur are roommates, Matthew and Alfred are the new guys across the hall. This one focuses on Arthur and Francis.

It's a bit rushed but trust me, the rest will be better.

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia.

* * *

Monday

It was a chilly, autumn Monday in New York City.

Like any other Monday, Arthur Kirkland was sitting at his kitchen table, reading the morning paper and drinking a warm cup of tea and a side of toast with strawberry jam, his personal favorite.

He had been living in New York for almost four years since his move from London, landing a successful job in a university. He worked as a professor teaching World History from 8 to 3, which was allowable to a flexible schedule. He also helped manage the local museum.

He was...satisfied with his life. It wasn't too busy or too boring. Decent, manageable. He had an apartment with a nice view of the city that wasn't all brick buildings. He had a French roommate that even if he drove him crazy at times, he could still manage with. They respected each others boundaries and lived life together, despite Francis Bonnefoy well...being Francis Bonnefoy.

His roommate was sociable and talented. He was a talented artist, cook and critic, working in a four star restaurant as head chef. He was very organized in all his work, very on top. He was also known for his contributions for the wine industry worldwide.

Francis Bonnefoy: popular, sociable and well liked.

Complete opposite of Arthur.

Maybe that's why they got along so well, or managed to not kill each other yet in their almost eight month of living together. They were the plus to each other's negative, the north to each other's south. They evened each other out, to a certain degree.

But even when Arthur was being his normal cranky self, the ever chatty Francis always made sure to keep him notified of the current gossip in the apartment building.

Arthur didn't care much for gossip, but even if he didn't care, it was still more entertaining to hear it from Francis than reading about some tabloid celebrity each week.

Not that he'd admit that of course.

Francis was fully dressed into his uniform, always being ready an hour before he went to work. His hair was still wet from the shower when he sat down across from Arthur and took a piece of his toast.

Arthur didn't even bother to bat an eye. He was already used to this anyway.

"So a pair of twins moved in across the hall," Francis began.

Arthur raised an eyebrow and lowered the newspaper."Twins? Who'd you hear this from?" he asked. "Antonio?"

Francis shrugged. "_Oui_. Who else?" he replied, eating the stolen piece of toast.

Antonio Carreido was the owner of the apartment building's first floor cafe. He was a Spaniard, having moved from Madrid to New York a few months ago. He also served as the head barista and source of gossip, aside from Francis himself.

He was good friends with Antonio, apparently known each other for years, maybe even longer than he's known Arthur. Honestly, the Frenchman could go on _hours _talking with Antonio on the phone.

Which was why he was now in charge of paying the phone bill.

Even though Arthur didn't really care much about Antonio, he would rather have a chat with him than Lovino Vargas, an angry Italian man who was also a barista alongside Antonio and his roommate as well.

God knew how _that_ worked out.

"So?" Arthur asked. "Why should I care about the new neighbors?"

"It's been a while since we've had new faces around here," Francis noted. "New faces around our age," he added.

"There's plenty of people here our age," Arthur replied.

And it was true. To his knowledge, about a good third of the apartment building's residents were roommates. It was a popular spot for incoming college students and people in general.

Not that he knew any of the other residents. He'd seen them, but hasn't bothered to converse with them.

"You make it sound like a big deal."

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but you need more friends."

Arthur nearly dropped his tea.

Well, that was unexpected to hear.

"Excuse me?" he asked, baffled.

Francis sighed. "You only talk to three people, me included. And no, people from the university do not count."

"Bollocks," Arthur scoffed.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm speaking the truth! You only talk to me, Gilbert and Kiku. It would be comforting for me if you made more friends."

"I talk to other people, thank you very much."

"Like?" Francis challenged.

Not in the mood to face the facts, Arthur shrugged it off. "I appreciate the concern Francis, but I think I'm fine the way I am," he folded the newspaper in half and drank down the rest of his tea. "I have to head for work."

"At least consider it," Francis said, exasperated. "Please?"

"Fine, I will." Arthur picked up his briefcase and coat, tossing a wave to Francis and walked out the door, briefcase in hand. "Oh and don't bug the neighbors for Pete's sake. Leave them be."

"Make some friends first then tell me what to do!" Francis called out.

"Wanker," Arthur said, no malice in his tone.

"At least go by and say hi!" Francis said.

"Bye," Arthur shut the door.

Not bothering to lock it, because he knew Francis would leave for work in an hour, he began his daily four-out-of-seven day routine of going down the hall and down the stairs.

Boxes with multiple labels, some with neat or sloppy handwriting, were stacked neatly against the wall. The door to apartment 19B was open, the lights on, windows open and the furniture in place.

No one was in sight within the doorway, but he could hear noises. A faucet being turned on, footsteps and the teeth grinding noise of a chair being pushed on the floor.

_So these are the new neighbors._

He considered Francis's advice, going by to say hi. Make a couple of new friends.

With a shrug, he walked downstairs to the first floor.

Why should he care?

* * *

A/N: It feels a bit rushed, I know, but this is just something to set the scene. I haven't written Hetalia in a long time so my skills are a bit rusty. So yeah, here we go. Hope you guys enjoyed, a review would be great. :)


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